Is It Okay To Skip Breakfast?

What matters most in nutrition is that you eat (1) at all, (2) a reasonable amount, and (3) food that is at least healthy-ish. The exact timing of your meals is not a huge deal, and there is no galactic scoreboard on which you’ll be made to reckon with the number of times you skipped breakfast.

So the short answer is: No. You can skip breakfast and be totally fine.

As we’ve discussed before, the idea that breakfast is “the most important meal of the day” was popularised by companies that sell breakfast food. Nutritionally there are some minor pros and cons. For example, eating in the daytime and especially early in the day can help your biological clock keep better track of when you should be awake. On the other hand, skipping breakfast prolongs your nighttime fast (you are literally breaking your fast, get it?) which may have some advantages for your metabolism.

So, whether you should eat breakfast depends on what it does for you. If you tend to have healthy and delicious food available at home, eat breakfast before you leave the house so you don’t end up stopping by the bakery or the vending machine when you get hungry mid-morning. Or if you work out in the mornings and prefer to do that on an empty stomach, stick with what works.

Comments

I think (as the final paragraph suggests) that eating breakfast is good since it reduces those morning cravings so you're less likely to snack on junk before lunch. I also think it's helpful because a lot of breakfast foods (cereals at least) are high fibre so it's a good way to get more fibre in your diet. Something that's starting to look like it has real health benefits like reduced obesity risk, diabetes risk and cancer risk (besides more regular pooping).

Only logged in users may vote for comments!

Get Permalink

Trending Stories Right Now

While used PS4s and Xboxes may not make up a significant portion of e-waste, that doesn’t mean they aren’t contributing to the problem. If you have any used gaming consoles, don’t trash them — you can likely re-sell them at any electronics store or recycle them at the very least.

We're constantly being reminded to reduce, reuse and recycle for good reason, but by chucking the wrong items in the recycling bin, your solid intentions are all but having a negative impact. We appreciate the 'to toss or recycle' question isn't always clear so we're going do your wrongs a right and breakdown all the things you thought you could recycle but actually can't.